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Quality Digest
Software developer iGrafx recently released Process for Six Sigma, its new suite for practitioners of the popular methodology.The solution includes features customized to Six Sigma, including design of experiments, data fitting, lean tools and value-stream mapping, hierarchical process maps and…
Praveen Gupta
If you’re considering opportunities for business improvement, dynamic growth and profitability, “plan,” “do,” “check” and “act” (PDCA) is a leading option. Walter A. Shewhart developed the PDCA cycle in the 1920s and W. Edwards Deming made it famous in the 1980s, even though he modified the PDCA…
Quality Digest
Food & Drug Law Weekly recently reported that one of the largest hospitals in the Netherlands is using Six Sigma to improve its management of clinical trials. The Atrium Medical Center currently conducts about 70 clinical trials per year for major pharmaceutical companies. Its new system will…
Quality Digest
Owners and managers of small to mid-sized organizations will learn how to use Six Sigma to improve operations at a full-day workshop scheduled for next month in Moon Township, Philadelphia.The workshop, “Achieving Customer Focus Through Six Sigma for the Small and Midsize Organization,” will be…
Quality Digest
FM Solutions, a facility management consulting and technology company, recently added a lean Six Sigma contractor management function to its WorkOasis technology platform.The addition includes processes for sourcing service contractors, handling service requests and paying invoices. It combines…
Quality Digest
Excel Partnership Inc. will offer a Six Sigma training course for professionals who want to become familiarized with the methodology. Green Belts are defined as practitioners who spend 5–20 percent of their working hours in support of Black Belt or Six Sigma projects of their own. Course…
Quality Digest
DVT Corp., a provider of innovative machine vision systems, recently upgraded its Intellect software to include new algorithms with simplified user interfaces for plant-floor technicians.The new algorithms include an application-specific toolset dedicated to bead tracking, as well as a fixed-font…
Quality Digest
The Juran Institute and i-Solutions recently released the Initiative Deployment Manager, a software program that allows users to monitor all business initiatives in real time.With a 360-degree view of business programs, the IDM can launch projects based on methodology templates; share plans and…
Quality Digest
Manufacturing industry analyst Bob Parker predicted in InformationWeek magazine that more manufacturing companies will combine lean and Six Sigma to improve efficiency and quality in 2005.Parker, vice president of the Manufacturing Insights group at the market research and advisory firm IDC, also…
Quality Digest
A Swiss software company recently added a new quality analysis tool to the popular Marketing Manager for Excel software.The tool, named Quality Manager, allows marketing agents and business analysts to monitor a wide range of activities, such as traffic at call centers, the quality of ongoing…
Quality Digest
The National Committee for Quality Assurance plans to honor several high-profile figures, including U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton and former U.S. Representative Newt Gingrich, for their contributions toward improving the quality of health care in the United States.The NCQA Health Quality Awards…
Quality Digest
2005 marks the 125th anniversary of The L.S. Starrett Co.The company was founded in 1880 by Laroy Sunderland Starrett to market his innovative combination square tool, an item that has since become a standard in toolboxes worldwide. Starrett later developed innovative design variations to calipers…
Quality Digest
The Turkish Standards Association will host the upcoming 49th European Organization for Quality Annual Congress. The event will be held April 25–27 in Antalya, Turkey. The theme will be “Quality: The Way to Sustainability,” and will include 30 breakout seminars examining all aspects of quality,…
Quality Digest
Almost 60 percent of telecom executives surveyed reported that performance improvement efforts over the past three years were unsuccessful. However, the respondents judged 90 percent of the efforts to be a success. “The apparent contradiction between disappointing strategic business results and the…
Quality Digest
Thomson Scientific & Healthcare Corp., a provider of integrated information products for the health care industry, recently introduced a new pharmaceutical product labeling solution that complies with impending FDA regulations. Thomson is now offering outsourced label conversion using its…
Tamar June
Companies struggling to comply with the FDA’s myriad electronic recordkeeping regulations should take a deep breath and follow it up with a long, careful look at the FDA’s actual GxP and 21 CFR Part 11 rules. After a careful reading of the admittedly long and sometimes dry rules, it should become…
Quality Digest
An upcoming conference focusing on stability testing will feature several major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The “Advances and Efficiencies in Stability Testing for the Pharmaceutical & BioTech Industry” conference will be held March 7–8 at the La Jolla Marriott in San Diego. It…
Quality Digest
The 6th annual Market Development & Outreach Multicultural Pharmaceutical Conference will be held March 17–18 in Iselin, New Jersey.The event is intended for pharmaceutical and health care companies that produce or develop products for diabetes, heart disease, cancer, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and…
Quality Digest
The Regulatory Compliance Workshop Group will present the 2005 Pharma IT Compliance Week training event March 7–11, in Puerto Rico. The event will feature five one-day workshops, with topics including “Auditing Computerized Systems to Pass FDA and European Regulatory Standards,” “Understanding and…
Quality Digest
PTI International Inc., an accredited provider of online continuing pharmaceutical education, will offer several upcoming courses on compliance to 21 CFR Part 11. The course, “How to Develop and Implement Risk-Based Strategies,” is designed to help attendees improve compliance with regulatory…
Quality Digest
Purdue Pharma recently started to integrate radio frequency identification (RFID) tags into its packaging to prevent drug counterfeiting.The company will use RFID products produced by Symbol Technologies Inc. for the pilot project, which began with the RFID tagging of 100-count bottles of OxyContin…
Quality Digest
A new study from Best Practices LLC shows that the best performance management and measurement tactics not only affect the bottom line, but also significantly enhance employee satisfaction. Companies that heavily invest in their employees reap the rewards of their investment. Some examples include…
Quality Digest
QualityWBT Center for Education and AQS Management Systems Inc. have partnered to offer a new ISO 9001 certified lead auditor class over the Internet. The RABQSA-approved class combines three days of training online and two days of face-to-face training. Students can access the online training at…
Quality Digest
The International Organization for Standardization recently launched an online survey to examine the value of ISO 14001 to small and medium-sized businesses. ISO encourages all sm all- to medium-sized businesses to participate, whether or not they have implemented ISO 14001 or another environmental…
Quality Digest
The National Committee for Quality Assurance recently praised the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services for launching a new pay-for-quality pilot project designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach in large medical groups. The 10 large medical groups participating in the program…